Every Reason to Hate You Pt 6

Elissa sat poking at the fire in boredom, hating the necessity of being trapped in the cave. To someone who led such an active life, this enforced convalescence was grating on her nerves, multiplied by the fact that she knew the darkspawn would not stop to wait for her. At least when Nathaniel was around, she had someone to talk to, but he had been gone for hours now and while she would not admit yet that she was concerned, she was starting to get anxious for his return. Wonderingly, her hand drifted to her lips, remembering how he had kissed her so unexpectedly and then departed before she could react. Part of her wanted to call him to task for such behavior, and the other part longed for him to do it again, to take her in his strong arms and hold her.

She shook her head at such foolish nonsense and grabbed her makeshift crutch, intending to hobble over to the entrance and see if she could catch a glimpse of Nathaniel or if any of their companions were in the area searching for them. She had just pushed herself shakily to her feet when Nathaniel suddenly appeared in the cave. Startled, she nearly fell and began uttering curses at the silence of rogues. Nate was at her side in an instant, slipping a strong arm around her waist and lightly supporting her until she regained her balance. To her intense disappointment, he withdrew his arm almost immediately and began unshouldering a large pack she had not noticed him carrying.

"I found a farmstead not too far from here," he said, not quite meeting her eyes as he began unloading the pack. "I was able to get us a few supplies to make our stay more comfortable. Here's a bedroll so you can rest easier tonight, some bandages so I can set your leg properly, and some pans to cook with so I can make a stew…" There was a tightness to his voice that did not fool Elissa and she knelt awkwardly, careful of her broken leg, to put a hand on his shoulder.

"The darkspawn got them, didn't they?" she asked quietly.

Nate turned his face away from her, his silence confirming all she needed to know. Sighing heavily and uttering a silent prayer to the Maker for their souls, she reached forward and gently forced Nathaniel to face her. He was blinking furiously and her heart suddenly ached for him. No matter how much destruction and how many atrocities they witnessed at the hands of the darkspawn, somehow it never got easier to bear. She pulled him into her arms and they held each other tightly for several long moments, silently comforting one another until he reluctantly released her and returned to unloading the pack.

She took the bedroll from him and laid it out in a relatively flat space close to the fire while he began to cook the evening meal. They worked in silence for a time, she biting back painful groans as her broken leg greatly complicated what should have been a relatively simple task. Before long, a delicious smell began to permeate the cave and Nate came up behind Elissa, gently but firmly steering her to the fire and urging her to sit.

"Take it easy, Commander," he told her, his tone lighter now. "Dinner's just about ready." Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the corner of his lips quirked up in a small smile as he regarded her. She wanted to ask him about their kiss earlier but, for some reason, she could not bring herself to speak the words and the moment passed. Nate bustled around, filling bowls and digging out spoons. He sat next to her, just far enough to not be touching, and handed her one of the bowls.

Elissa found herself ravenous and she was disappointed when her spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl. Sighing heavily, she childishly ran a finger around the rim of the bowl and licked it clean. She started when Nathaniel suddenly burst out laughing.

"There is more, Elissa. You don't have to eat your finger."

She flushed darkly and silently held out her bowl to him, which he good-naturedly refilled for her. He finished his bowl and moved to the cave entrance, rinsing it out from a water pouch while she worked on her second bowl. When he returned, she expected him to sit beside her once more but, to her surprise, he knelt behind her. Before she could question his actions, his hands came up and began to gently knead the tension out of her shoulders and her head drooped almost instantly, spoon hanging slack in her fingers.

Nathaniel deftly reached around, took the bowl from her lest she spill any, and carefully set it aside before returning his hands to her back. She groaned softly as his strong fingers expertly found knots and carefully soothed them away, working down her back and along her spine. As his hands came back up toward her neck, they began to linger caressingly, causing her to shiver delightedly. She turned her head to face him, eyelids heavy and her heart suddenly lurched at the tender gaze in his eyes. Her heart fluttered nervously as, one hand still caressing her neck, he gently lifted her chin with his free hand and placed a tender kiss on her lips.

She sighed softly, eyes closed as he pulled away from her. "I should bandage that leg up better," he said quietly, almost regretfully. She turned back to the fire, frowning slightly as he changed the subject. She reached for her crutch to hobble back to the bedroll so that she could lay back while he tended her leg but she suddenly yelped in surprise as he gathered her up in his arms. Her arms flew about his neck in shock and she tensed, expecting a jolt of pain in her leg that never came. He carried her so carefully and set her so lightly on the bedroll that she would have thought her leg was completely healed if she did not already know better.

Dragging the pack with bandages and supplies closer to him, Nathaniel paused and ran a tender finger down her cheek. "This may hurt a bit," he said apologetically. She nodded and grit her teeth, laying back on the blankets and focused on the way his hands had felt on her back, soothing away the cares and worries, trying to ignore the pain in her leg as he necessarily moved and straightened, pulling the bandages almost painfully tight. She wondered why her mind felt so fuzzy…

"All done," his voice came as if far away. She felt a soft caress on her face as he brushed her hair back. "Sleep well, Elissa." She heard him moving away and she tried to reach out to him but her sleep muddled body (and she suspected he had slipped something into her bowl of stew when she was not looking) would not respond and she felt herself drifting into peaceful slumber.